British champion takes his second stage of the race to wrest back yellow jersey from Luis León Sánchez

Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) became the first ever British winner of the Tour de Romandie after wresting back the yellow jersey on the 16.24km mountain time trial in Crans-Montana; finishing the stage in a time of 28 minutes 56 seconds. The British champion, who lost the race lead through time bonuses to stage winner Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank) on the previous day survived an early technical scare - when he dropped his chain while changing gear - to finish just under a second ahead of young American Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Barracuda).

Wiggins’ Sky teammate Richie Porte, who had been leading the stage until he was overtaken by Talansky, finished in third, 17 seconds behind.

Sánchez completed the stage in a disappointing 30’20”, some 1’24” behind Wiggins; the performances of the two fastest men on the stage were enough to put the on the final podium, in the same order. Rui Costa (Movistar) was fourth on the stage, 23 seconds behind Wiggins, to secure the third step.

“It’s really nice to finish it off in a time trial on the last day for the boys. All week they’ve been incredible,” said Wiggins. “It doesn’t matter how strong you are as an individual, without those team-mates this week I wouldn’t be in this position.

“What a team we’ve had here this week,” he added. “You know you’re in a great team when you’ve got the world champion riding for you on the front.”

Wiggins endured a scare partway around his ride, as he unshipped his chain while shifting from the big ring to the small ring. The British rider calmly replaced his chain and carried on however, which he feels is a mark of his own maturity.

“[The course] was a true test of a GC rider,” he said. “It had a bit of everything in it plus a mechanical for myself. I’m pleased with the way I handled that moment because a few years ago I might have thrown my toys out of the pram and chucked my bike down the ravine! It was a good test for the bigger races coming up and I’m delighted.”

The Tour de Romandie marked Wiggins’ second stage race victory of the year so far, after his win in March’s Paris-Nice.

“I think [it’s] is a result of the hard work I’ve put in this winter,” he said. “I’ve really grafted at it and hopefully there’s more to come.”

Team Sky sets the early markers for its team captain to come

Most riders were using standard road bikes with clip on aero bars on the 16.24km course, which descended from 1257 metres at the start in Montana Village, to 1102 metres in the first four kilometres. It then rose to the 1512 metre high climb to Aminona at 8.26km, before completing the mostly flat second half.

Wiggins’ Sky teammate Danny Pate was the first to start the course, and was first to finish in a time of 31’20”. With Team Sky set to dominate the stage, the first rider to better this was another from the British team, with Vuelta a España runner-up Chris Froome setting a marker for Wiggins with 30’41”.

Nelson Oliveira (RadioShack-Nissan) quickly lowered the best time by a second, to 30’39”, but he was soon ousted from the lead by Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank), who stopped th clock in 30’24”.

Paris-Nice prologue winner Gustav Larsson (Vacansoleil-DCM) was the first rider to go below half an hour, by posting a time of 29’58”. The Swedish champion was quickly deposed by Vacansoleil-DCM teammate Thomas de Gendt however, who went eight seconds quicker with 29’50”.

Team Sky still dominating as Wiggins soars to victory

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) nudged the best time down by two seconds, with 29’48”, but Porte finished soon afterwards, knocking a full 35 seconds off to take it down to 29’13”.

Talansky was one of the very few to be tackling the course on a time trial bike, and the American was consistently faster than Porte at all the checkpoints on the way up. The 23-year-old crossed the line 16 seconds quicker than Porte, just ducking below 29 minutes with 28’57”. Talansky’s ride put him into the virtual race lead, with only Wiggins challenging him further down the course; the British rider held an eleven second lead over the American at the start of the day however, meaning that he could afford to concede a few.

Wiggins sprinted into the finish but, as the seconds ticked away, it looked as though Talansky was going to take the stage. The British rider stopped the clock in 28’56” however, just seven-tenths of a second up on the American, giving him the stage victory, as well as the overall race title.

Sánchez had been struggling on the course, and was clearly on the way to losing his yellow jersey from the very first kilometres. The Spanish time trial champion, dressed in the all-yellow skinsuit of race leader, ground his way over the line in a time of 30’20”; good enough for just 22nd place, and dropped to tenth overall.